Over the past six years, Narendra Modi has effectively handled major issues as Prime Minister of India with vision and strength. However, the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, sluggish economy, and tensions with China pose new challenges. Amit Shah has also proven himself a brilliant strategist and statesman who protects the Modi government from opposition over the past six years.

1. Ashirwad
AHMEDABAD l SATURDAY, MAY 30, 2020 l Pages 12 l 3.00 RNI NO. GUJENG/2019/16208 l Vol 1 l Issue No. 184Anniversary
AshirwadAshirwad
Maa ka
ADITI NAGAR
ver the past six years, a lot has changed in the polity of the nation.
It was in 2014 that then Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi
ascended to the ‘throne’ of India and became its Prime Minister
swaying the electorate to his side. Since then, each and every day,
the Prime Minister has handled major issues with panache and ul-
timate vision of India of future. Be it the historic peace accord with
NSCN (IM) in the north-east, surgical strike and Balakot air strike against
terrorists, abrogation of article 370, making Ladakh a UT which was a long
standing demand, the passing of triple talaq bill empowering Muslim women
or the final decision in the Ayodhya Ram Janmabhoomi case; all this and much
more has happened which has cast the dye that Modi is indeed a strong leader.
But Modi is not one of those who bask in the glory of their past achievements
and rather looks forward to the role at hand. And thus, the ongoing Corona
crisis, sluggish economy and the Red Dragon - China - breathing heavily
down over neck ie Himalayas, are the new challenges facing the stalwart
leader. With the blessings of his birth mother - Heeraben Modi, who
turned 100 years on 25th May 2020 - the pious son of the Indies has
set out to work for the betterment and upliftment of ‘Maa Bhar-
ti’. Modi’s success story will never be complete without a word
of appreciation for his deputy and a popularly known ‘Sardar
Patel’ Amit Shah, who over the past six years has shown that
he is not just a brilliant and mastermind strategist but also
a statesman who can take on the Opposition head on to keep
Modi government safe and secured.
Ashirwadver the past six years, a lot has changed in the polity of the nation.
It was in 2014 that then Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi
ascended to the ‘throne’ of India and became its Prime Minister
swaying the electorate to his side. Since then, each and every day,
the Prime Minister has handled major issues with panache and ul-
timate vision of India of future. Be it the historic peace accord with
NSCN (IM) in the north-east, surgical strike and Balakot air strike against
terrorists, abrogation of article 370, making Ladakh a UT which was a long
standing demand, the passing of triple talaq bill empowering Muslim women
or the final decision in the Ayodhya Ram Janmabhoomi case; all this and much
more has happened which has cast the dye that Modi is indeed a strong leader.
But Modi is not one of those who bask in the glory of their past achievements
and rather looks forward to the role at hand. And thus, the ongoing Corona
crisis, sluggish economy and the Red Dragon - China - breathing heavily
down over neck ie Himalayas, are the new challenges facing the stalwart
leader. With the blessings of his birth mother - Heeraben Modi, who
turned 100 years on 25th May 2020 - the pious son of the Indies has
set out to work for the betterment and upliftment of ‘Maa Bhar-
ti’. Modi’s success story will never be complete without a word
of appreciation for his deputy and a popularly known ‘Sardar
Patel’ Amit Shah, who over the past six years has shown that
he is not just a brilliant and mastermind strategist but also
a statesman who can take on the Opposition head on to keep
O
PM Modi’s mother Heeraben
turned 100 on May 25, 2020.
The PM has time and again
tweeted about mother’s love,
saying that mother’s blessing
is the nector for a good life!

2. NEWSAHMEDABAD | SATURDAY, MAY 30, 2020
02www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
First India Bureau
Gandhinagar: Chief
Minister Vijay Rupani
launchedthethirdphase
of SujalamaSufalamJal
Abhiyan(SSJA)inApril.
In the month since then,
1,894 works have com-
pleted and 5,947 are un-
derway. Till date, it has
generated 21.71 lakh la-
bour days in employ-
ment. The state has at-
tracted Rs42,976 crore in
foreign direct invest-
ment in 2019-20. This is
three times higher than
the number for 2018-19.
In keeping with the
Supreme Court order
directing states to take
responsibility for mi-
grant workers, the Gu-
jarat government will
pay the Indian Rail-
ways Rs 25 crore to
carry migrants to
their home states.
The government has
also clarified that
there is currently no
plan to tighten lock-
down norms or close
essential services from
June 01, and has urged
the public not to be-
lieve any such ru-
mours.
Information and
Broadcasting Secretary
and Secretary to the
Chief MinisterAshwani
Kumar, who made the
announcement,saidthat
SSJA has led to an in-
creaseof 1.70crorecubic
metres in the conserva-
tion capacity of lakes,
ponds, khet talavadis
and check dams, which
inturnwillhelpimprove
groundwater levels and
aid in irrigating agricul-
tural land. As many as
33,196JCBearth-moving
machines and 1.35 lakh
tractors and dumpers
have been deployed to
dig mud out of 12,279
lakes and water bodies
so far.
Meanwhile, ministe-
rial offices are likely
to resume full-fledged
operations on Monday.
So far, only a few min-
isters had been attend-
ing office for a few
hours a week. Now, the
entire council of min-
isters is expected to
start coming in to
work. Sources say the
week is likely to bring
the first cabinet meet-
ingatSwarnimSankul
in the new secretariat
after a gap of nine
weeks.
Over the past few
days, various trade asso-
ciations have started
writing to the govern-
mentrequestingthatthe
lockdown be lifted. The
RajkotChamberof Com-
merce has demanded
that industries be al-
lowed to function round
the clock, and that shops
be allowed to operate at
least until 7 pm.
Gujarat Restaurant
and Hotel Owners As-
sociation President
Narendra Somani too
has written a letter re-
questing to allow res-
taurants to operate
until 11 pm since their
main business comes
in the evening hours.
He has also requested
that liquor shops be al-
lowed to resume oper-
ations.
Another popular de-
mand is for the state to
allow pillion riders on
two-wheelers in major
cities.
The state will an-
nounce its decision
about withdrawal or ex-
tension of the lockdown
only after Prime Minis-
terNarendraModispells
out his plan for the na-
tion.
SSJA has generated 22L man days of employment in the state
SAMPLE RECEIVED
SAMPLE NEGATIVE
0
UNDER EXAMINATION
2,01,481
1,85,537
IN GUJARAT
DISTRICT TOTAL TOTAL NEW
CASES DEATHS DEATHS
AHMEDABAD 11597 798 18
VADODARA 981 39 0
SURAT 1510 67 2
RAJKOT 105 2 0
BHAVNAGAR 120 8 0
ANAND 97 10 0
BHARUCH 38 3 0
GANDHINAGAR 249 13 0
PATAN 76 6 0
PANCHMANHAL 82 7 0
BANASKANTHA 104 4 0
NARMADA 18 0 0
CHOTA UDEPUR 31 0 0
KUTCH 79 2 0
MAHESANA 112 4 0
BOTAD 59 1 0
DAHOD 36 0 0
PORBANDAR 8 0 0
JAMNAGAR 52 2 0
MORBI 4 0 0
SABARKANTHA 98 3 0
ARAVALLI 103 3 0
MAHISAGAR 114 2 0
KHEDA 65 4 0
GIR SOMNATH 45 0 0
VALSAD 35 1 0
TAPI 6 0 0
NAVSARI 25 0 0
DANG 2 0 0
SURENDRANAGAR 33 1 1
DWARKA 12 0 0
JUNAGADH 29 0 0
AMRELI 8 0 0
OTHER STATES 11 0 0
TOTAL 15944 980 20
Chief Minister Vijay Rupani inquiring about the treatment facility
at the dedicated COVID-19 hospital in a video conference with a
patient at the COVID-19 ward.
GUJARAT SHRIMP FARMING SEES
40 PER CENT PRODUCTION CUT
First India Bureau
Porbandar: It was in 2001
when a 14-year-old boy cre-
ated a history of sorts win-
ning Rs 1 crore at Kaun
Banega Crorepati (KBC)
Junior contest. Nineteen
years later, he has contin-
ued on his path of success
and is now the Superinten-
dent of Police at Por-
bandar.
Dr Ravi Mohan Saini,
a native of Alwar, who is
now 33-years-old, is
making headlines yet
again as a police officer.
He took charge as Por-
bandar SP on Tuesday
after serving as Deputy
Commissioner of Police
in Rajkot.
About his new responsi-
bilities, he said, “My role
would be the implementa-
tion of lockdown in Por-
bandar in view of the
Covid-19 pandemic. Also,
the law and order situa-
tion remains our topmost
priority.” The son of a re-
tired Navy officer, Saini
was in class 10 when he
appeared in KBC Junior.
In a 2017 interview, he
had said, “I was the win-
ner of Rs 1 crore. How-
ever, I got Rs 69 lakh af-
ter deduction of taxes,
four years later.” As per
the rules of the show, the
prize money is given to
the winners after they
turn 18.
First India Bureau
Gandhinagar: Gujarat’s
shrimp aquaculture sec-
tor, which produced
around 45,000 tonnes dur-
ing the last year, faces a
reduction in annual pro-
duction of up to 40 per
cent, due to the chaos
caused by the COVID-19
pandemic.
Stocking usually takes
place up to the end of
May end in Gujarat, with
some further activity in
June and July, but this is
then brought to a halt by
the onset of the mon-
soon.
However, the four
phases of nationwide
lockdown, in which
flights were suspended
and movement of peo-
ple completely banned,
coincided with the
state’s key shrimp
stocking period.
Informed sources in
the sector said many
farmers felt that by the
time fisheries and aq-
uaculture activities
were exempted from
the lockdown, it was
already too late, which
explains why only
around 500 of the
State’s 1,200 shrimp
ponds are currently
stocked.
“About 60 per cent of
ponds are not stocked
due to mainly unavaila-
bility of seeds. It is cer-
tainly a huge blow to the
shrimp industry in the
State,” Dr Manoj M Shar-
ma, president of the Gu-
jarat Aqua Feed Dealers
Association (GAFDA),
told an industry journal.
“Thanks to Golden
Marine, Vaishakhi Bio-
Marine, and other
hatcheries. They sup-
plied seeds during the
lockdown period. If
normalcy is restored,
then stocking may go
up to 60 per cent by the
end of July. It means
the total production
will come down by ap-
proximately 16,000-
18,000 tonnes this year.
It will cause a loss to
the tune of nearly Rs
700 crores to the
shrimp industry in the
State.”
14-year-old winner of KBC
is now Porbandar SP
The four phases of nationwide lockdown, in which flights were suspended and movement of
people completely banned, coincided with Gujarat’s key shrimp stocking period
Need to cut flights from
Mumbai, A’bad: Punjab govt
First India Bureau
Chandigarh: Ex-
pressing apprehen-
sions about corona
spread to other
states, Punjab
Health minister Bal-
bir Singh Sidhu on
Friday said there is a
need to reduce do-
mestic flights from
Mumbai and
Ahmedabad where a
large number of
Covid-19 cases have
been found.
Presiding over a re-
view meeting of the
Health Department,
Sidhu said most of the
COVID-19casesreport-
ed in Punjab were hav-
ing the travel history
of return from other
states or countries.
Therefore, to prevent
the community spread
level, there is a need to
put focus on passen-
gers especially coming
from high risk states
and countries, said
Sidhu in an official re-
lease here. “In order to
contain the spread of
COVID-19 in the State,
as Punjab has regis-
tered only 2.8 percent
positive cases among
72,468 samples, Balbir
Singh Sidhu said there
is need to reduce do-
mestic flights especial-
ly from Mumbai and
Ahmedabad” the re-
lease said, quoting the
minister.
No plan to tighten lockdown in June, ministers
offices to function at 100% from Monday
—PHOTO BY HANIF SINDHI
Ravi Mohan Saini won KBCJunior in 2001, when he was 14 years old.
(Screengrab/Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy)
TOO LITTLE, TOO LATE!
USA 1,778,467 103,838 +508
BRAZIL 443,542 26,899 +135
RUSSIA 387,623 4,374 +232
SPAIN 285,644 27,121 +2
UK 271,222 38,161 +324
ITALY 232,248 33,229 +87
FRANCE 186,835 28,714 +52
GERMANY 182,917 8,580 +10
TURKEY 162,120 4,489 +28
IRAN 146,668 7,677 +50
CANADA 89,386 6,979 +102
CHILE 90,638 944 +54
S ARABIA 81,766 458 +17
MEXICO 81,400 9,044 +447
BELGIUM 58,061 9,430 +42
COUNTRY TOTAL TOTAL NEW
CASES DEATHS DEATHS
GLOBAL STATE
OF AFFAIRS
WWW.WORLDOMETERS.INFO
LAST UPDATED: MAY 29, 2020, 11:35 PM
Punjab Health Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu. —FILE PHOTO

3. CORONA
ALERT
AHMEDABAD l SATURDAY, MAY 30, 2020 l Pages 12 l 3.00 RNI NO. GUJENG/2019/16208 l Vol 1 l Issue No. 184
28°C - 41°C
OUR EDITIONS:
JAIPUR & AHMEDABAD
www.firstindia.co.in
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thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia
instagram.com/thefirstindia
COVID-19
UPDATE
GUJARAT
980
DEATHS
15,944
CONFIRMED CASES
253 fresh cases and 468 discharged from Ahmedabad alone
First India Bureau
Gandhinagar: Overthe
past 72 days, the state
hasrecordedasmany9.8
new cases of COVID-19
every hour. It also seen
one person die and 4.98
people be discharged
every hour for 72 days.
As on Friday, Gujarat
now has 15,994 cases;
980 people have died
and 8,609 have been dis-
charged from hospitals.
In the past 24 hours,
19 districts have report-
ed 372 new cases (in-
cluding one from an-
other state), 20 deaths
and 608 discharges.
By Friday morning,
Ahmedabad had a to-
tal of 11,163 cases and
a death toll of 773,
while 5,517 patients
have been discharged.
The city still has 4,873
active cases.
According to the
state health bulletin,
sample testing in
Ahmedabad per mil-
lion is 9,414--suppos-
edly the highest in the
country. On the other
hand, the department
tested 3,433 samples
in the past 24 hours,
considerably less than
the 6,000-plus samples
tested last week.
In Ahmedabad, GCA
hospital’s housekeeping
staff went on a light-
ning strike demanding
that the state pay Rs25
lakh compensation to
their colleague, who
died after being infected
by Sars-CoV-2 in the line
of duty. They also de-
manded that all house-
keeping staff be provid-
ed PPE kits and other
protective gear.
The Samras care cen-
tre has lodged a police
complaint with the Uni-
versity Police station
that a positive patient
ran away.
Ahead of the end of
Lockdown 4.0, the Su-
rat Municipal Corpo-
ration has made
changes to the city’s
containment clusters.
Two of the original 17
have been delisted and
another two have been
added. Fifteen cluster
areas have been re-
worked. Where 1.47
lakh houses and 6.70
lakh people were cov-
ered in containment
areas previously, now
88,516 houses and 4.09
lakh people will be
quarantined in the
cluster area. Turn on P7With the state nearing the 16K mark, the government is discharging 4.98 people every hour.
 24 hours: 372 cases, 20
deaths, 608 discharged
 Total: 15,994 cases, 980
deaths, 8,609 discharged
Aditi Nagar
New Delhi: As the lock-
down 4.0 is headed to-
wards an end in the next
forty eight hours, Union
Home Minister Amit
Shah called up Prime
MinisterNarendraModi
on Friday and apprised
him about the views of
all chief ministers on
the extension of the on-
going nationwide lock-
down beyond May 31.
Shah had spoken to
all the CMs on Thursday
and During his talks
with the chief minis-
ters, Shah sought to
know the areas of con-
cern of the states and
the sectors they want to
open up further from
June 1. interestingly, it
was the first time since
lockdown was an-
nounced that Home
Minister spoke with
CMs, as till now it was
PM Modi who held tele-
phonic conversations
and video conferences
with chief ministers.
During the meeting,
Shah briefed Modi
about the suggestions
and the feedback he re-
ceived from the chief
ministers during his tel-
ephonic conversations
on Thursday, a govern-
ment official said.
The home minister’s
telephonic conversa-
tionswiththeCMscame
just three days before
the end of the fourth
phase of the lockdown.
Incidentally, Shah
was present in all the
conferences of chief
ministers along with
the prime minister. It is
understood that major-
ity of the chief minis-
ters wanted the lock-
down to continue in
some form but also fa-
voured opening up of
the economic activities
and gradual return of
the normal life, another
official said.
The central govern-
ment is expected to an-
nounce its decision on
the lockdown within the
next two days and high-
ly placed sources reveal
that the Centre is likely
to retain a limited role
and allow states and un-
ion territories to take
decisions on whether to
tighten or give addition-
al relaxations in the na-
tionwide lockdown in
their respective juris-
dictions from June 1.
The Central govern-
ment may, however, ad-
vise state authorities to
continue Turn on P7
New Delhi: The num-
ber of COVID-19 cases
in India has climbed to
1,65,799, making it the
world’s ninth worst-hit
country by the corona-
virus pandemic.
The Health Ministry
said the death toll due to
COVID-19 rose to 4,706
in the country, while the
number of cases
climbed to 1,65,799, reg-
istering an increase of
175 deaths and a record
jump of 7,466 cases
since Thursday 8 am.
According to Worl-
dometer, India has now
overtaken Turkey as
the ninth worst-hit
country in terms of to-
tal number of cases.
Turn on P7
As Lockdown 4.0 ends on Sunday, future measures will be
reviewed every fortnight where states will have major say
LOCKDOWN EXIT: MIXED
FEELINGS AMONG STATES
‘No recent
Modi-Trump
talk over
Ladakh’
New Delhi: Top gov-
ernment sources on
Friday virtually contra-
dicted US President
Donald Trump’s claim
of a conversation be-
tween him and Prime
Minister Narenda Modi
on India’s ongoing mili-
tary standoff with Chi-
na in eastern Ladakh.
There has been no re-
cent contact between
Prime Minister Modi
and President Trump,
the sources said.
Theclarificationcame
hours after Trump said
in Washington that he
had spoken to Modi and
that the Indian prime
ministerisnotina“good
mood” over the Turn on P7
India’s GDP
growth slows to
New Delhi: The Indian
economy grew by 3.1 per
cent in January to
March quarter (Q4
FY20) as COVID-19 pan-
demic further com-
pressed consumer de-
mand and private invest-
ments, government data
showed on Friday.
“In view of the global
COVID-19 pandemic and
consequent nationwide
lockdown measures im-
plemented since March
2020, the data flow from
the economic entities
has been impacted,”
said the Ministry of Sta-
tistics and Programme
Implementation in a
statement. “GDP at con-
stant (2011-12) prices in
Q4 of 2019-20 is estimat-
ed at Rs 38.04 lakh crore
as against Rs 36.9 lakh
crore in Q4 of 2018-19,
showing a growth of 3.1
per cent,” it said.
For the full 2019-20 fi-
nancial year, the head-
line number came at
4.2 per cent as against
6.1 per cent in 2018-
19.
The COVID-19 led
lockdown started in the
last week of March and
hence the Q4 GDP num-
ber does not reflect ac-
tual ground reality cur-
rently prevailing and
its full impact on
main sectors of
the economy.
Turn on P7
3.1%
Massive traffic jam at the Delhi-Gurugram border as Gurugram police checking each commuter
entering the city during the ongoing lockdown, in Gurugram on Friday. —PHOTO BY ANI
2 9 A P R I L 1 9 4 6 - 2 9 M A Y 2 0 2 0
Raipur: The first chief inis-
ter of Chhattisgarh Ajit Jogi
breathed his last at a hospi-
tal here today. He was 74.
His health deteriorated at
around 1.30 pm on Friday. He
suffered from a cardiac ar-
rest. The doctors tried to re-
suscitate him for around two
hours but unfortunately,
they were not able to revive
him. He breathed his last at
3.30 pm, Shree Narayana
Hospital, where Jogi was ad-
mitted, said in a bulletin.
Turn on P7
First CM of Chhattisgarh
Ajit Jogi passes away
Narendra Modi
@narendramodi
Shri Ajit Jogi Ji was passionate
about public service. This passion made
him work hard as a bureaucrat and as
a political leader. He strived to bring a
positive change in the lives of the poor,
especially tribal communities. Saddened by
his demise. Condolences to his family. RIP.
Amit Shah @AmitShah
I express my deepest condolences
on the sad demise of Shri Ajit Jogi ji,
former Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh.
May god give the bereaved family
strength to withstand this tragic loss.
Om Shanti Shanti Shanti.
Corona: India 9th-worst
hit country in world
HIGHLIGHTS
 GDP growth rate
for March quarter has
slipped to 3.1%, down
from 4.7%
 GDP growth rate for
2019-20 fiscal year
stood at 4.2,
down from 6.1%
 March quarter had
the impact of corona-
virus lockdown for just
one week
JUNE 1: WEST BENGAL TO OPEN
RELIGIOUS PALCES
Kolkata: Two days before the end of the fourth
phase of the nationwide lockdown, West Bengal
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday an-
nounced a slew of relaxations, including reopen-
ing of shrines from June 1. She also announced
restarting of private and public sector offices with
full attendance from June 8. After Karnataka, West
Bengal became the second state to announce
reopening of the shrines for devotees. P5
RAILWAYS ISSUES GUIDELINES FOR TTEs
New Delhi: For the first time in 167 years, on-board ticket
checking staff will now not be required to wear their customary
black coats and ties and will instead wear gloves, masks, face
shields, PPEs and use magnifying glasses to check tickets,
Railways said in an order on Friday. In the guidelines for TTEs
for the 100 pairs of special trains scheduled to start from June
1, the Railways said, “In order to prevent/reduce chances of
infection, TTE staff may be asked to dispense with tie and coat.
They will, however, put on their name and designation badge.”
INDIA
1,73,322
CONFIRMED CASES
4,979
DEATHS
WORLD
3,64,301
DEATHS
59,71,162
CONFIRMED CASES

4. GUJARATAHMEDABAD | SATURDAY, MAY 30, 2020
04www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
Gargi Raval
Ahmedabad: The
change in guard of
the Ahmedabad Mu-
nicipal Corporation
(AMC) has brought
with it several chang-
es in the dispensation
of information re-
garding novel corona-
virus. No contain-
ment zones or red
zones in Ahmedabad
have been declared af-
ter May 5, the day
when former munici-
pal commissioner Vi-
jay Nehra went on
leave, and was subse-
quently transferred
to the rural develop-
ment department.
Earlier, the walled
city was declared a red
zone and several adjoin-
ing pockets were cor-
doned off as contain-
ment zones. In other
pockets of the city,
many containment col-
onies were formed too.
However, despite a rise
in the number of posi-
tive cases in the city, no
red zones or contain-
ment areas have been
isolated by the local
civic body.
Before May 5, the
AMC declared a ward
as being in the red
zone once it had 100
COVID-19 cases. But
now, despite 250 and
more cases emerging
in various wards, they
have not been classi-
fied in the red or con-
tainment zones.
Currently, the city
has 1,195 active cases in
the north zone and 1,112
cases in the central
zone. The highest num-
ber of COVID-19 posi-
tive cases has been re-
ported in the central
zone amounting to
more than 3,100. It is fol-
lowed by the south zone
which has more than
2,500 positive cases. Al-
though, a few wards of
the north zone have
seen a rise in number of
cases in the last few
days, the area has yet
not been declared a con-
tainment or red zone.
On Thursday, the zone
reported 80 new cases.
No new red, containment zones in Ahmedabad
PVT HOSPITALS ACCOUNTED FOR
53% DEATHS THIS PAST WEEK
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: In the
massive hue and cry
surrounding patient
grievances and gov-
ernment-run hospi-
tals, it is easy to forget
that 42 private facili-
ties are also treating
COVID-19 patients in
the city under the pro-
visions of the Epidem-
ic Diseases Act. And
these private hospitals
accounted for more
deaths than public
hospitals last week.
The city saw 161
deaths related to COV-
ID-19 last week. Of
these, 44 occurred at the
Civil Hospital in Asar-
wa, 19, at Sardar Vallab-
hbhai Patel Hospital,
and 12 at the Civil Hospi-
tal in Sola, bringing the
total to 75 deaths in gov-
ernment-run hospitals.
On the other hand, pri-
vate hospitals account-
ed for the remaining 86,
or 53% of the total.
On Thursday alone,
there were five deaths in
the Civil Hospital, and
Sola Civil and SVP each
reported one death. The
other hospitals reported
nine deaths.
On Friday, the bul-
letin from the
Ahmedabad Munici-
pal Corporation
(AMC) said that, so far,
415 deaths have been
reported at the Civil
Hospital in Asarwa,
143 at SVP, 44 at Sola
Civil, and 171 deaths
at other hospitals.
TheAMChadropedin
private hospitals to slow
the rush at the Civil Hos-
pital. Officials say more
than 500 patients were
referredtoprivatehospi-
tals in the past week.
“Many patients have
been diverted to other
private hospitals after
they have been desig-
nated for COVID-19
treatment. In just one
last week more than 500
patients have been re-
ferred to the private
hospitals over the Civil
hospitals or the govern-
ment hospitals,” said a
senior health official.
Other sources say the
movie came because
people did not want to
go to the Civil Hospital
amid reports of shoddy
facilities.
Meanwhile, leader
of the opposition at
AMC Dinesh Sharma
is being tested for
COVID-19.
Is the government keeping the public in the dark over COVID-19?
First India Bureau
Gandhinagar: The
Aarogya Setu applica-
tion may alert you if
there is an infected
person nearby, but the
state health depart-
ment has now stopped
sharing data about the
number of COVID-19
cases in the state. The
app has withdrawn
district-wise case data
from the tracker web-
site as well.
Congress spokesper-
son Manish Doshi has
condemnedthestategov-
ernment’s attempt to
suppress information
related to COVID-19.
Doshi alleged, “This is a
disservice to our society
and nation. People have
a right to know what is
happening in the state.”
Further, the state has
introduced “active cas-
es” as new category, in-
stead of “positive cas-
es”. Since, active case
numbers are always
less than positive cases,
i t may be an attempt by
the state to give the im-
pression that the health
crisis is under control.
The practice of giving
totals at the end of each
column in the data table
has also ceased.
Sources say this
move may have been
prompted by the con-
stant mismatch in fig-
ures in the state press
releases and on the
COVID dashboard.
Over time, the state
briefings stopped and
onlyshareddatathrough
social media. Then it
dropped district-wise
daily data from its infor-
mation sheets. Data on
the number of patients
with travel history and
those infected due to lo-
cal transmission is no
longer shared.
These days, the data
does not mention the
total positive cases per
day, and the state only
shares daily sample
testing figures when it
is under pressure.
HCG is one of 42 private hospitals that are treating COVID-19 patients. — FILE PHOTO
A containment zone in Kalupur, Ahmedabad. —FILE PHOTO
City healthcare depends on
borrowed docs, ventilators
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: The gov-
ernment claims the
health situation in the
state is well under
control but that is a
half-truth at best. As
per reports, the dedi-
cated COVID-19 hospi-
tal in the city is being
run on borrowed ven-
tilators. The state has
pulled ventilator ma-
chines from other dis-
tricts and shipped
them to Ahmedabad
in order to tackle the
deluge of COVID-19
patients. Admittedly,
this move may put oth-
er districts at risk, be-
cause if there is a
spike in cases over-
night in other dis-
tricts, they might run
short of ventilators.
In the beginning of
this week, Ahmedabad
Civil Hospital superin-
tendent Dr MM Prabha-
kar had stated that the
dedicatedCOVID-19hos-
pital had more than 180
ventilators. He had also
claimed that there was
no shortage of ventila-
torsandthatthepatients
were not succumbing to
the virus in the absence
of ventilators.
What Prabhakar did
not add is that the
state government has
pulled not just ventila-
tors but also doctors
from other districts
and transferred them
to Ahmedabad. Sourc-
es say the city now has
10 ventilators and four
to six doctors arrived
from Jamnagar, eight
and 10 ventilators
from Vadodara and
Surat, respectively.
Sources say that this
‘transfer’ has taken
place because there is a
spike in critical cases at
the COVID-19 hospital.
As of now, there are 92
patients on ventilator
support in the entire
state. Since majority of
these critical and Sars-
CoV-2 positive patients
are from Ahmedabad,
there was a need for
more ventilators and
doctors. Hence, the state
health department was
compelled to pull ma-
chines and doctors from
other districts and get
themtothecity.Interest-
ingly, there are ventila-
tor machines lying un-
used at VS Hospital,
which haven’t been uti-
lized for the COVID-19
health crisis.
75 of Ahmedabad’s 161 fatalities occurred in government-run facilities, 86 in private ones
Surat trials
new meds
in effort to
stay safe
First India Bureau
Surat: : The city
has begun to tri-
al the homoeo-
pathic Sepia-200
spray for the san-
itization of build-
ings in Kosad of
Amaroli. So far,
Sepia-200 has
shown positive
results in Indore
and Mumbai.
“We have been
sanitizing the city
since the first case
of COVID-19. So
far, we have been
using hydrochlo-
ride. However, the
H o m o e o p at h i c
Council of Gujarat
suggested to the
municipal com-
missioner that we
try Sepia-200. So,
we have begun its
first trial in Kosad.
So far, 2.50 lakh
places have been
sanitized in Surat.
As many as 650
employees have
been involved in
this operation for
seven to eight
hours,” said Bas-
ant Parikh, Chief
Fire Officer.
Next, Sepia-200
is likely to be
used to sanitize
red-zone areas
including Lim-
bayat, Umarwa-
da and Rander.
Cong leader
demands
justice for
tribal people
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: After
tribals of eight villag-
es near the Kevadia
colony were physical-
ly assaulted by the po-
lice, Congress party
leader Shaktisinh Go-
hil has demanded im-
mediate action against
the culprits, including
the suspension of of-
ficers who ordered
that the area near the
disputed land be
fenced off.
A video on social me-
dia showed women
amongthosebeingphys-
ically assaulted for op-
posingthefencingwork.
“Tribes that have
been pushed away from
their land must be giv-
en back. And, if the
land acquisition is in
public benefit then the
tribal must be given
proper compensation,”
Gohil said.
The tribals of 72 vil-
lages have complained
that they have not been
compensated fairly for
the loss of their land,
for the Sardar Sarovar
Narmada Project, and
the Statue of Unity.
Civil Hospital —FILE PHOTO
A fire broke out at the Sakar-7 building on Ashram Road in Ahmedabad on Friday afternoon.
Eyewitnesses said the lift cables began to spark due to a short circuit, leading to the fire. Since
it spread quickly, the people in the building climbed to the terrace to save themselves. One
man tried to jump off the fourth floor but sustained major head injuries instead. He later died in
hospital. The fire brigade team doused the fire and rescued 50 people who had been trapped in
the elevator and on other floors of the building. —PHOTOS BY HANIF SINDHI
SHORT CIRCUIT, LONG ORDEAL

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6. INDIAAHMEDABAD | SATURDAY, MAY 30, 2020
05www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
Lucknow: Uttar
Pradesh Chief Minis-
ter Yogi Adityanath
said that the State gov-
ernment is committed
for the safe return of
all migrant labourers
stranded across the
country amid the cor-
o n av i r u s - i n d u c e d
lockdown.
“Chief Minister
Yogi Adityanath has
said that UP govern-
ment is committed for
the safe return of mi-
grant workers to the
state. A list of migrant
labourers wishing to
come back to the state
should be received
from the states so free
special trains can be
arranged for their re-
turn,” an official state-
ment said on Friday.
Earlier in the day,
Aditynanath held a
high-level meeting to
review the lockdown
situation in the State.
Adityanath ex-
pressed satisfaction
with arrangements at
quarantine centres and
community kitchens
and said that better
safety & hygiene meas-
ures should be ensured
there. “Expressing sat-
isfaction with availabil-
ity of pulse oximeter in
all districts of the
state, the CM also di-
rected to avail infrared
thermometer in every
district.” —ANI
‘Govt devoted towards
safe return of all migrants’Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi held a high-level meeting to review lockdown situation in the State
MIGRANT CRISIS
CORONA UPDATE
Kolkata: All places of
worship in Bengal will
open from June 1, CM
Mamata Banerjee de-
clared on Friday, two
days before lockdown4
is due to end. Not more
than 10 people will be
allowed when religious
places reopen, she de-
clared, adding that con-
gregations or functions
would not be allowed.
“Temples, mosques,
gurdwaras, churches,
all will open, but not
more than 10 people
will be allowed, there
will be no assembly at
religious places. This
will be implemented
from 1st June,” she said
in an online press con-
ference. The CM pref-
aced her announcement
with a sharp attack on
the central government
for running migrant
special trains.
“They are stuffing
the Shramik trains full
of people, there is no
social distancing, no
food, no water, noth-
ing,” she said. “What
are they trying to do?
Are they running Shra-
mik trains or are they
trying to run Corona
Express?”
Banerjee said the
railway ministry could
easily increase the
number of coaches in
trains to prevent crowd-
ing. “I was rail minister.
I know we have enough
rakes. They can easily
make trains longer and
stop crowding the
trains full of people.”
Religious places to open in
Bengal from June 1: Didi
Migrant children taking rest after arriving by a special train from Surat at Prayagraj Junction.
New Delhi: At least 206
frontline workers at the
AIIMS Delhi have test-
ed positive for COV-
ID-19 since February 1.
Lately, 11 healthcare
staff were reported pos-
itive on Friday whereas
30 on Thursday. Talking
about COVID-19 infect-
ed staff, AIIMS-Delhi
Medical Superinten-
dent Dr DK Sharma
said: “We are taking all
safety and precaution-
ary measures against
coronavirus for our
healthcare workers.”
“Assoonasourhealth-
care workers are found
infected with the COV-
ID-19, we immediately
isolate them for their
treatment and initiate
the process of contact
tracing,” said Dr Shar-
ma, adding that none of
the healthcare workers
was infected in the hos-
pital. As per the latest
data compiled by the
AIIMS administration,
the infected individuals
were both medicos and
non-medicos staff. —ANI
COVID-19 infects 206 health-
care workers at AIIMS-Delhi New Delhi: After the
Health Ministry ex-
pressed reservations
about the WHO’s advi-
sory to suspend hydrox-
ychloroquine (HCQ) us-
age in treating COV-
ID-19 patients, now, In-
dia’s nodal government
agency ICMR oversee-
ing country’s response
to coronavirus pandem-
ic has also written to
WHO citing differences
in dosage standards be-
tween Indian and inter-
national trials that
could explain the effi-
cacy issues of HCQ in
treating COVID-19 pa-
tients.Internationally,
the total dosage given
to a patient over 11 days
is about 9600 mg which
is four times higher
than the dose we are
giving to our patients,”
said an official. —ANI
ICMR writes to
WHO over HCQ
assessment
New Delhi: The Con-
gress has alleged that
the economy is “sink-
ing”butthegovernment
is consistently “shrink-
ing” the savings and in-
come of the common
man by reducing the
savings bank deposit
and fixed deposit rates
of public sector banks.
Congress chief
spokesperson Randeep
Surjewala said “The im-
pact of interest rate cut
decision on March 31
amounts to loss of Rs
19,000 crore income per
year for the depositors”.
Middle class and low-
er middle class is in
“economic grief”. The
decision to reduce in-
terest rates and discon-
tinue RBI Bonds dur-
ing lockdown is “brain-
less, heartless and
shameless.” —Agencies
New Delhi: Union Min-
ister Dharmendra
Pradhan dedicated 56
CNG stations to the na-
tion. These stations are
spread over 11 states &
UTs. “Expanding the
reach of environment
friendly Compressed
Natural Gas, Minister
of Petroleum and Natu-
ral Gas & Steel Dhar-
mendra Pradhan,
through an online cer-
emony, dedicated to
the nation 48 CNG sta-
tions and inaugurated
8 other CNG stations
in the country,” said a
press release from the
Ministry of Petroleum
& Natural Gas. Coun-
try is moving towards
gas based economy.
The number of PNG
stations has gone up
from 25 lakh to 60 lakh,
he said. —ANI
Govt ‘shrinking’
savings, income of
common man: Cong
Union Min Pradhan
launches 56 CNG
stations online
New Delhi: A day af-
ter Solicitor General
Tushar Mehta told SC
that there were a
handful of people,
‘prophets of doom,’
who were always scep-
tical about every-
thing, the Congress
questioned the apex
court’s silence and al-
leged that the govern-
ment was autocratic
in its functioning.
Randeep Surjewala,
Congress chief
spokesperson, said,
“Modi Govt’s ‘New
Definitions’ in SC -
1)’Some HCs are run-
ning a parallel Govt’
2) Those criticising
the govt are ‘prophets
of doom’ 3) Cites in-
stance of a journalist
as ‘vulture’.”
“A prelude to com-
plete ‘Autocracy & Ab-
dication of Constitu-
tion’!” added Surjewa-
la in his tweet.
The Congress leader
also questioned the
transfer of bench in
the Gujarat HC. “No
wonder the High Court
Bench holding Gujarat
Govt accountable for
abdication of duty &
turning the hospital
into a ‘dungeon’ is sud-
denly changed. Can
there be a greater
‘travesty of justice’?”
Surjewala said. —ANI
Cong attacks Centre for SG’s
‘prophets of doom’ remark in SC
New Delhi: SC will hear a plea on
June 2 seeking direction to the Cen-
tre to amend the Constitution and
change the name of the country
from India to ‘Bharat’. The plea
claimed that this will help citizens
of the country get over the colonial
past and instil a sense of pride in
their nationality.
The petitioner, a Delhi-based
man, argued that the time is ripe
to recognise the country by its
original and authentic name,
Bharat, especially when the cities
have been renamed in accordance
with Indian ethos. The plea con-
tended that the purpose of the
amendment to Article 1 will en-
sure “the citizens of this country
to get over the colonial past.” “The
removal of the English name,
though appears symbolic, will in-
stil a sense of pride in our national-
ity, especially for the future genera-
tions,” the plea said. —Agencies
Nagpur: The Nagpur bench of
Bombay HC extended gangster
Arun Gawli’s parole by five days &
directed him to get a travel permit
from the police to surrender before
the Nagpur Central prison. A divi-
sion bench of Justices S B Shukre
and A S Kilor directed Gawli to
seek permission from concerned
police authorities to travel from
Mumbai to Nagpur amid the COV-
ID-19 lockdown and surrender be-
fore the Nagpur Central prison. His
advocate Mir Nagman Ali informed
that Gawli had appeared before au-
thorities at Taloja Prison in Navi
Mumbai to surrender. —PTI
SC to hear plea on
renaming India to
Bharat on June 2
HC extends gangster
Arun Gawli’s parole
by five days
‘TIMELY TROOP DEPLOYMENT
AVERTED DEEPER INCURSIONS’
New Delhi: Quick and
timely reinforcements by
security forces in Galwan
Nala area saved the day
for the Indian side as the
Chinese Army wanted to
carry out deeper incur-
sions there upto their
claim lines inside the
Indian territory. “When
the Chinese Army started
building up its troops
along LAC in Galwan Nala
area in first week of May,
they wanted to carry out
deeper incursions into the
Indian territory upto their
claim lines. Initially, the
response was hampered
but then due to quick
reinforcements of troops
by the Indian security
forces prevented Chinese
plans to be realised at one
of the locations there,”
sources informed.
‘WHERE IS PRAGYA THAKUR’
POSTERS UP IN BHOPAL
Bhopal: Posters about the ‘‘disappearance’’ of
BJP MP from Bhopal, Pragya Singh Thakur, have
been put up in many parts of her constituency.
The posters were seen on Friday morning in
many parts of the state capital. These posters
were also on the bus stops at Link Road No. 1
& 2. The posters that appeared with the image
of the MP, had written on them “Bhopal public
is suffering with coronavirus pandemic, where
is MP Pragya Thakur”. However, it has not been
revealed who put up the posters.
WANTED JMB TERRORIST
ABDUL KARIM ARRESTED
Kolkata: Kolkata Police’s Special Task Force on
Friday arrested Abdul Karim, a wanted Ja-
maat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) terrorist,
from Suti Police Station area in Murshidabad.
He will be produced before a court on Friday.
Karim was the leader of the Dhuliyan module
and would actively supply logistics and support,
shelter to top leaders like Saleuddin, the police
said. His name was mentioned as the main
operative also by JMB terrorists in Bangladesh
during their interrogation.
KARNATAKA REPORTS 178 NEW
CASES, STATE TALLY@ 2711
Bengaluru: With 178
positive cases reported
between 5 pm on May 28
and 12 pm on May 29 in
Karnataka, the state tally
has reached to 2711, said
officials from the Ministry
of Health.The maximum
number of freshly report-
ed cases in the state were
returnees from Maharash-
tra, said the Department
of Health and Family
Welfare, Bengaluru.
According to the mid-day
bulletin, 35 COVID-19
recovered patients have
been discharged out of
these 2711 cases, how-
ever, no new death has
been reported in the state,
officials informed while
speaking about Corona
cases.The total number of
active cases in the state
stands at 1793.
DATA ON JOB LOSSES DUE TO COVID-19
IN THE COURTYARD
THE IMPACT MAKING A REMARK
New Delhi: Rail-
ways Minister Pi-
yush Goyal on Fri-
day urged people
suffering from seri-
ous ailments, preg-
nant women, chil-
dren and those
above 65 years to
travel in Shramik
trains “only when
necessary”.
“I appeal to people
suffering from seri-
ous ailments, preg-
nant women and
those above 65 years
and below 10 years
of age to travel only
when necessary in
Shramik Trains.
Railway Parivaar is
committed to ensur-
ing safety of all pas-
sengers,” the Union
Minister Goyal
tweeted. —ANI
‘Expectant
moms,elderly
to travel only
if needed’

7. G Vol 1 G Issue No. 184 G RNI NO. GUJENG/2019/16208. Printed and published by Anita Hada Sangwan on behalf of First Express Publishers. Printed at Bhaskar Printing Planet Survey No.148P, Changodar-Bavla Highway, Tal. Sanand, Dist. Ahmedabad.
Published at D/302 3rd Floor Plot No. 35 Titanium Square, Scheme No. 2, Thaltej Taluka, Ghatlodiya, Ahmedabad. Editor: Jagdeesh Chandra, responsible for selection of news under the PRB Act
PERSPECTIVEAHMEDABAD | SATURDAY, MAY 30, 2020
06www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
A SWEET AND
SOUR ONE YEAR
OF BJP RULE
oday, the Narendra Modi govern-
ment completes one year of its sec-
ond term in office. All began well
with the government scrapping Ar-
ticle 370 within two months of com-
ing back to power ending the state’s special
status. Three months later it was split into two
Union territories of J&K and Ladakh. The
government was able to get Parliament’s ap-
proval for its bold move that flummoxed Paki-
stan and political leaders of Kashmir. Article
370 had been like a sore thumb for BJP. Al-
though other political parties may have also
wanted it scrapped the country’s vote politics
did not allow them enough leeway to do it. It
was easy work for the BJP which came to
power on the sentiment of nationalism, triple
talaq and Ram temple in Ayodhya.
Backed by some opposition parties and effi-
cient floor management in Parliament helped
the BJP in getting the legislation banning triple
talaq passed. Getting a favourable judgment
from the Supreme Court has been another of its
achievements. Although the judgment was de-
scribed as historic, the Apex Court and the then
Chief Justice of India, Justice Ranjan Gogoi, did
not cover themselves with glory.
With the passing of the CAA, which grants
citizenship to the persecuted minorities
from South Asian countries, the government
had accomplished a key Hindutva agenda.
The agitation in Delhi against CAA and the
National Register of Citizens were looked at
as being anti-minority led to violent agita-
tion in Delhi and elsewhere. The issue was
kept alive by elderly Muslim women in Del-
hi and the government was under some pres-
sure before coronavirus pandemic sent eve-
ryone scurrying for home.
With that Modi’s dream of making India a $5
trillion economic superpower came crashing
down as he placed the country under lockdown.
Industry---big, small, medium and tiny - tourism,
aviation, retail businesses, hotels, restaurants,
infrastructure and movies were all pushed into
a financial quagmire. School education too has
suffered a reversal. How many will sink and how
many survive is not difficult to tell but it is eas-
ier to foresee queues of jobless men and women
getting longer. Instead of empathy the ill-fated
migrants have only elicited superficial sympa-
thy from BJP leaders.
To tell the truth, mismanagement of Cov-
id-19 would be regarded as the government’s
biggest failure, despite its packages for eco-
nomic revival and relief for farmers and
informal sector. Implementation of these
packages will pose a different set of chal-
lenges for the government.
One doubts if the government will talk about
the issue of migrants, jobless youths committing
suicide and businesses shutting shutters. It will
go to town with new slogans of Atma Nirbhara-
ta (self-reliance) and talk about Modi’s firm han-
dling of the pandemic (while some say Bangla-
desh did a better job). The financial packages
will be used as a shield.
All in all, it’s been a sweet and sour first year.
IN-DEPTH
T
he coronavi-
rus pandemic
has caused a
massive surge
in global un-
employment. It has also
highlighted the increas-
ingly valuable role of
automation in today’s
world.
Although there are some
jobs machines just can’t do,
COVID-19 has left us won-
dering about the future of
work and with this, the ca-
pacity of automation to
step in where humans
must step back.
AUTOMATION
AND JOBS
Discussions about the “rise
of the machines” first
picked up significantly in
2013, after University of
Oxford researchers pub-
lished a paper about the
potential to automate
many jobs across sectors,
including many so called
office jobs such as admin-
istrative support workers,
telemarketers and insur-
ance claims clerks.
But does automation
directly create unem-
ployment? The answer is
complicated.
Although some automa-
tion does replace human
labour, other forms of it
can help create new busi-
ness, or help existing busi-
nesses prosper with bene-
fits to employees.
It also depends on
whether you measure
employment globally, na-
tionally or locally. In-
creasing automation for
one country or region
may be beneficial for
jobs there, but damaging
to jobs elsewhere.
Robots have already re-
placed people in many
highly repetitive manufac-
turing tasks in developed
economies, and will likely
eventually replace similar
labour in the rest of the
world. But in the areas of
niche and advanced manu-
facturing, such as in mak-
ing art, the manufacture
of components for the
aerospace industry, or
even customised and
unique fashion garments,
the use of robots will like-
ly create jobs.
PANDEMIC DRIVERS
FOR AUTOMATION
The automation of Aus-
tralia’s industries has been
in the works for some time
now. Australia is a world
leader in adopting mining
equipment automation –
unsurprising given our re-
liance on mining exports.
Many of our mines are
partially staffed from re-
mote operation centres,
where employees moni-
tor largely automated
pieces of equipment.
This successful automa-
tion would have helped
the mining industry deal
with the effects of the
pandemic.
Research suggests COV-
ID-19 can spread via sur-
facesandhuman-to-human
contact.
Technology provides
ways to avoid this. For
instance, human contact
while shopping was re-
duced drastically long
before COVID-19 with
the introduction of self-
checkouts..
FOR FULL REPORT LOG ON TO
WWW.THECONVERSATION.COM
Will coronavirus mark the rise of automation?
T
CORONAVIRUS HAS CAUSED A MASSIVE SURGE
IN GLOBAL UNEMPLOYMENT. IT HAS ALSO
HIGHLIGHTED THE INCREASINGLY VALUABLE
ROLE OF AUTOMATION IN TODAY’S WORLD
Let us hold unswervingly to
the hope we profess, for he
who promised is faithful.
—Hebrews 10:23
Spiritual
SPEAK
Top
TWEET
Dharmendra Pradhan
@dpradhanbjp
In the last 6 years, the natural gas
sector, including expansion of CGD
network has seen a tremendous
growth in India. From 34 GAs and
66 districts in May, 2014, work
is in progress to expand the CGD
network to 232 GAs and 407
districts as on April, 2020.
Piyush Goyal
@PiyushGoyal
Railways has prioritised safety
& well being of all passengers.
Following health protocols, thermal
screening & social distancing, over
85 lakh meals and 1.25 crore water
bottles have been served for free to
Shramiks so they can comfortably
reach their destination.
n the evolution of the body,
the monkey is very close to
you. In the evolution of the
self, the crow, the cow and
the snake are held as very
close to the human form. Be-
cause of this, even today in
India, if any one of these
three animals die, tradition-
al people still give them a fu-
neral. In this culture, it was
always said that you should
not kill any of these animals.
In case they die somehow,
people actually give them a
funeral like they would for a
human being, but on a small-
er scale because with just a
little more evolution, these
animals would be like you.
In the yogic culture, the
snake is a symbolism for kun-
dalini – the unmanifest energy
within you. The nature of kun-
dalini is such that when it is
still, you do not even know it
exists. Only when it moves, you
realize there is so much power
within you. Till it moves it is
almost non-existent. Because
of this, kundalini is symbolized
as a snake because a coiled-up
snake is so hard to see unless it
moves. Similarly, you do not see
this coiled-up energy unless it
moves. If your kundalini is
aroused, miraculous things
that you cannot believe possible
will happen with you. An un-
leashing of a completely new
level of energy begins and your
body and everything behaves in
a completely different way.
Heightened states of ener-
gy are also heightened states
of perception. The whole yo-
gic system is aimed only to-
wards enhancing your per-
ception. A spiritual process
essentially means just that –
to enhance your perception
because you know only what
you perceive. This is the rea-
son for the symbolism of
Shiva and a snake. It indi-
cates that his energies have
reached the peak. His ener-
gies have reached the top of
his head and so his third eye
has opened.
THE THIRD EYE
The third eye does not mean
someone’s forehead has
cracked and something came
out. It simply means another
dimension of perception has
opened up. The two eyes can
see only that which is physical.
If I just cover them with my
hand, they cannot look beyond
that. That is how limited they
are. If the third eye has opened,
it means another dimension of
perception which is inward
looking, which looks at life
completely differently, has
opened up and everything that
can be perceived is perceived.
Nowadays, a lot of books and
yoga studios talk about Kunda-
lini Yoga though they don’t
know anything about it. Even
to utter the word “kundalini”
we always bring a sense of rev-
erence and then utter the word
because it is so enormous. If
you have to activate the kunda-
lini, the necessary preparation
in your body, mind and emotion
should happen, because if you
pump energy into a system
which is not ready for that kind
of voltage or volume, things
will fuse out. So many people
have come to me who have lost
their mental balance and phys-
ical capabilities because they
tried to do kundalini yoga with-
out the necessary guidance and
assistance. If the necessary
supportive atmosphere is not
there, simply attempting to
raise kundalini could be very
irresponsible and dangerous.
ENERGY HAS NO
DISCRETION
This doesn’t mean there is
something wrong with Kunda-
lini Yoga. It is a very fantastic
process but it needs to be done
properly because energy has no
discretion of its own. You can
make your life out of it or you
canburnyourlifeoutof it.Elec-
tricity is making our life. But if
you stick your little finger into
it, you know what will happen!
Energy has no discretion. How
you use it is how it is. Kundalini
is also like that. You are using it
right now but in a minimal way.
If youmaximizeityoucanraise
beyond your limitations of ex-
istence. All yoga in one way is
towards that but Kundalini
Yoga is particularly towards
that. In fact, all life is towards
that. In some way, people want
to experience life more intense-
ly than they are experiencing it
right now. Someone wants to
sing, someone else wants to
dance, someone wants to drink
alcohol, someone else wants to
pray – why are they doing all
this? They want to experience
life more intensely. Everyone is
trying to raise their kundalini
but they are doing it haphaz-
ardly. When you approach it sci-
entifically with a proper meth-
od, we say it is yoga.
THE SNAKE
AND KUNDALINI
I
In the yogic
culture, the
snake is a
symbolism for
kundalini – the
unmanifest
energy within
you. The nature
of kundalini is
such that when
it is still, you
do not even
know it exists.
Only when it
moves, you
realize there is
so much power
within you
THE THIRD EYE DOES
NOT MEAN SOMEONE’S
FOREHEAD HAS
CRACKED AND
SOMETHING CAME
OUT. IT SIMPLY MEANS
ANOTHER DIMENSION
OF PERCEPTION HAS
OPENED UP
SADHGURU, ISHA FOUNDATION
Ranked amongst the fifty most influential
people in India, Sadhguru is a yogi, mystic,
visionary and a New York Times bestselling
author Sadhguru has been conferred the Padma
Vibhushan by the Government of India in 2017,
the highest annual civilian award, accorded for
exceptional and distinguished service

8. INDIAAHMEDABAD | SATURDAY, MAY 30, 2020
07www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
IS KAMATH GETTING SOME
ROLE IN NORTH-BLOCK?
Eminent banker KV Kamath, who has on
Wednesday, demitted office as the President of
the National Development Bank, led by the five
BRICS member countries, is likely to get some
important role in the North-Block.
40 IRS-C&CE OFFICERS OF
1991 BATCH EMPANELLED AS
PRINCIPAL COMMISSIONER
As many as 40 IRS-C&CE officers of 1991 batch,
are believed to have been empanelled for the
posts of Principal Commissioner at a Departmen-
tal Promotion Committee (DPC) meeting held on
May 28, 2020.
RAO TO SUCCEED ANIL
KISHORE AS CRO SBI?
S Srinivas Rao is likely to succeed Anil Kishore as
Chief Risk Officer (CRO) of the State Bank of India
(SBI).He is presently CGM, SBI. Anil Kishore is
joining the New Development Bank as
Vice -President.
WILL AJOY MEHTA BE THE
CHAIRMAN OF CERC?
Name of Maharashtra Chief Secretary, Ajoy Meh-
ta has now started doing the rounds for the post
of Chairman of the Central Electricity Regularity
Commission (CERC). He is a 1984 batch IAS
officer. Post has already been advertised.
RANGANATHAN LIKELY TO
BE MEMBER, FINANCE
Manjula Ranganathan is likely to be appointed
as Member, Finance in the Railway Board. Her
proposal in this regard, has reportedly been sent
for ACC approval. If it is approved, she will be the
first female Member, Finance, in Railway Board.
Due to retire this year in September, the 1983
batch IRAS officer is presently posted as Finance
Commissioner.
ANUPAMA APPOINTED DIRECTOR,
DRINKING WATER
Anupama has been appointed Director in the
Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation. She
is a 2000 batch IFS officer of West Bengal cadre.
TENURE OF ALOK KUMAR EXTENDED
The central deputation tenure of Alok Kumar,
working as Adviser, NITI Aayog, has been ex-
tended for a period of one year beyond June 16,
2020. He is a 1993 batch IAS officer of UP cadre.
SACHIN SINHA RETURNS
TO PARENT CADRE
Sachin Sinha, Joint Secretary, Department of
School Education & Literacy, has been given
premature repatriation to his parent cadre. He is
a 1995 batch IAS officer of MP cadre.
PRATIBHA PARKAR APPOINTED
NEXT AMBASSADOR TO ANGOLA
Pratibha Parkar, presently Consul General of India
in Frankfurt, has been appointed as next Ambas-
sador of India to the Republic of Angola. She is
an Indian Foreign Service officer of 2000 batch.
TOTAL NO. OF PENDING CASES IN
COURTS AT 32.54 MILLION
Total number of pending cases in various courts
of India, is at 32.45 million as of May 24, 2020
as per the data from the National Judicial Data
Grind(NJDG) on the pendency of cases in India.
GOVT SETS UP CAT BENCH IN JAMMU
The Central Govt has established a Bench of the
Central Administrative Tribunal in Jammu.
ADITYA MADANPOTRA
SHIFTED TO DELHI
Aditya Madanpotra has been transferred from A
& N Island to Delhi. He is a 2016 batch IFS officer
of AGMUT cadre.
POWERGallery
New Delhi: Delhi CM
Arvind Kejriwal sug-
gested a slew of meas-
ures for home isolation
of coronavirus positive
patients in an attempt to
curb the rapid spread of
the Covid-19 outbreak
in the city. The national
capital recorded 1,106
fresh coronavirus cases
in the last 24 hours, tak-
ing the total tally in
Delhi to over 17,000.
Emphasising that
coronavirus positive
patients do recover
from the highly infec-
tious disease, Kejriwal
said, “More than 80 per
cent of coronavirus
positive patients either
have no symptoms at all
or show very mild
symptoms and most
people recover in about
17 days if they follow
proper home isolation
guidelines.”
The Delhi chief min-
ister urged people not to
panic if they test Cov-
id-19 positive and follow
all health protocol and
isolate themselves com-
pletely at home in a
separate room with a
separate washroom.
Kejriwal shared vari-
ous home isolation
guidelines with the peo-
ple in a televised ad-
dressonFridayevening.
The guidelines dealt
with instructions for pa-
tients in home isolation
as well as instructions
for neighbours of Cov-
id-19 positive patients.
The 15-minute in-
structional video pres-
entation explained im-
portant information
about precautions &
guidelines to follow dur-
ing home isolation for
corona patients. Delhi
government has also ap-
pointed a team of health
workers who will moni-
tor all those coronavi-
rus patients who are in
home isolation. Delhi’s
Covid-19 death toll on
Friday climbed to 398
with 82 deaths that took
place in the last one
month being reported
today, as the city’s to-
tal coronavirus tally
jumped to over 17,000,
Dy CM Manish Sisodia
& Heath Minister
Satyendar Jain said in
a virtual joint press
conference. —ANI
COVID-19 POSITIVE CASES CROSS 17,000 IN CAPITAL
Delhigovtissueshomeisolationnorms
253 fresh...
A few non-government
organizations (NGOs)
have questioned the
sample testing by the
Vadodara Municipal
Corporation (VMC).
They have alleged that
the VMC has tested
only 9,000 samples, or
0.45% of the city’s pop-
ulation and that the civ-
ic body is misleading
the public. Municipal
Commissioner Nalin
Upadhyay has refuted
allegations stating that
testing is being carried
out in accordance with
the ICMR guidelines.
First CM...
The son of Ajit Jogi,
Amit Jogi tweeted:
“20-year-old state Ch-
hattisgarh lost its fa-
ther today. It is not only
me who has lost his fa-
ther but the entire state.
Respectable Ajit Jogi Ji
left his 2.5-crore strong
family and left for heav-
enly abode. The anchor
of villages and Chhat-
tisgarh’s dearest went
far away from us.”
The leader from Ch-
hattisgarh was first
spottedbyformerprime
minister Rajiv Gandhi
when he was a district
collector in Indore from
1981-85. Interestingly,
Jogi was among the re-
maining few political
veterans of Congress
who had worked closely
with former prime min-
ister Indira Gandhi, for-
mer prime minister Ra-
jiv Gandhi and Con-
gress president Sonia
Gandhi. —ANI
Lockdown exit ...
with strict curbs in
COVID-19 containment
zones in the worst-af-
fected 30 municipal ar-
eas that account for
80% of positive cases in
country. These 30 mu-
nicipal areas are from
Maharashtra, Tamil
Nadu, Gujarat, Delhi,
Madhya Pradesh, West
Bengal, Rajasthan, Ut-
tar Pradesh, Telangana,
Andhra Pradesh, Pun-
jab and Odisha. Suspen-
sion on international
flights, closure of malls
and cinema halls may
continue while states
may be allowed to de-
cide on opening schools
and educational insti-
tutes. After his talks
with Shah, Goa Chief
Minister Pramod
Sawant said he felt the
lockdown may be ex-
tended for 15 more days.
India’s GDP...
Theresultantslowdown
in household spending
and corporate invest-
ment will emerge when
the numbers for the
current quarter (April
to June) are collated to
reflect actual distress in
the economy.
Real GDP at con-
stant (2011-12) prices
in the year 2019-20 is
now estimated to at-
tain a level of Rs 145.66
lakh crore as against
the first revised esti-
mate for 2018-19 of Rs
139.81 lakh crore, said
the Ministry of Statis-
tics and Programme
Implementation.
The GDP at current
prices in 2019-20 is esti-
mated to attain a level
of Rs 203.4 lakh crore as
against the first revised
estimates of Rs 189.71
lakh crore in 2018-19,
showing a growth rate
of 7.2 per cent as com-
pared to 11 per cent in
2018-19. —ANI
‘No recent...
“big conflict” between
India and China.
The sources said the
last conversation be-
tween the two leaders
was on April 4 on the
issue of hydroxychlo-
roquine.
They said the Minis-
try of External Affairs
on Thursday made it
clear that India was di-
rectly in touch with
China through estab-
lished mechanisms and
diplomatic contacts to
resolve the border row
in eastern Ladakh.
Troops of India and
China were engaged in
a major standoff for
over three weeks in
Pangong Tso, Galwan
Valley, Demchok and
Daulat Beg Oldie in
eastern Ladakh, in
what is turning out to
be the biggest confron-
tation between the two
countries after the
Doklam episode in 2017.
The trigger for the
face-off was China’s
stiff opposition to India
laying a key road in the
Finger area around the
Pangong Tso Lake be-
sides construction of
another road connect-
ing the Darbuk-Sha-
yok-Daulat Beg Oldie
road in Galwan Valley.
Corona: India...
The Health ministry
said the number of ac-
tive COVID-19 cases
stood at 89,987, while
71,105 people have re-
covered and one pa-
tient has migrated.
“Thus, around 42.89 per
cent patients have re-
covered so far,” a se-
nior Health Ministry
official said.
“4,673 cases are being
reassigned to states,”
the ministry said on its
website, adding, “Our
figures are being recon-
ciled with the ICMR.”
State-wise distribution
is subject to further ver-
ification and reconcilia-
tion, it said. —ANI
FROM PG 1
Pune: Maharashtra
Deputy Chief Minister
Ajit Pawar on Friday
said that the state gov-
ernment will soon an-
nounce a financial pack-
age to steer the state out
of the present economic
crisis caused due to the
COVID-19 situation.
Talking to reporters
in Pimpri Chinchwad
township near Pune,
the senior NCP leader
said that as a result of
the pandemic and the
lockdown, all financial
activities have come to
a standstill, and busi-
nesses as well as jobs
have been adversely
impacted.
"In a nutshell, we are
facing an economic cri-
sis and we want to find
a way out. The state gov-
ernment will soon an-
nounce a financial
package and a decision
in that regard will be
taken in the cabinet,"
Pawar said. He said that
although the Centre an-
nounced an economic
package, there were
still differences of opin-
ion on how much mon-
ey will be given to peo-
ple. "We are also seek-
ing help from Centre.
We have been sending
correspondence and
raising the issue in the
PM's vc with all states,"
he added. —PTI
‘Maha to announce
economic package to
tide over virus crisis’
New Delhi: The En-
forcement Directorate
(ED) on Friday said it
has attached assets to-
talling Rs 385 crore be-
longing to Augus-
taWestland chopper
scam accused Rajiv
Saxena under the Pre-
vention of Money Laun-
dering Act (PMLA).
The assets include a
villa in Palm Jumeirah
(Dubai)worth20million
Dirhams and money in
fiveSwissbankaccounts
totalling US dollars 45.5
million which all adds
up to Rs 385 crore.
Rajiv Saxena, an ac-
cused-turned-approver
in the AgustaWestland
VVIP chopper case,
was deported to India
from the United Arab
Emirates (UAE) in Jan-
uary last year and ar-
rested under the mon-
ey laundering act.
Investigations under
the PMLA were initiat-
ed by the ED on the ba-
sis of separate FIRs reg-
istered by the CBI.
The probe, says the
ED, revealed that ac-
cused Rajiv Saxena is a
“Hawala operator” and
“accommodation entry
provider”, who runs
accommodation entry
business in Dubai
through numerous
companies. He is al-
leged to have laun-
dered proceeds of
crime in the Agusta
chopper scam. —ANI
Chopperscam:Assetsofaccusedattached
Chhattisgarh: The
Raipur police has sum-
moned BJP spokesper-
son Sambit Patra on
June 2 to Raipur for al-
legedly promoting en-
mity between different
groups and hurting re-
ligious feelings, by his
tweets against former
Prime Ministers Jawa-
harlal Nehru and Rajiv
Gandhi, in connection
with the Kashmir issue
& 1984 anti-Sikh riots.
Raipur police
summons
Sambit Patra
New Delhi: India
trashed Pakistan’s criti-
cism of commencement
of construction of Ram
temple in Ayodhya, say-
ing Islamabad has no
locus standi over the is-
sue. “We have seen an
absurd statement by
Pakistan on a matter
on which it has no lo-
cus standi. Given its
record, Pakistan
should be embarrassed
to even mention minor-
ities,” EAM Spokesper-
son Anurag Srivastava
said. Pakistan Foreign
Office said that while
the world is grappling
with the unprecedent-
ed COVID-19 pandemic,
“the RSS-BJP com-
bine” was advancing
the Hindutva agenda.
The commencement
of construction of a
mandir at historic
Babri Masjid site in
Ayodhya on May 26,
2020, the government
and people of Pak con-
demn it in the strongest
terms, it said. —ANI
Pak’s objection over
Ram temple trashed
New Delhi: Niti Aayog
has recommended to the
Finance Ministry the
setting up of a National
Trade Network (NTN)
on the lines of GSTN to
facilitate import and ex-
ports and flagged nega-
tive interventions at the
field level where cus-
toms officers raise irrel-
evant queries without
accountability & some-
times,evenrentseeking.
In a letter, Amitabh
Kant, CEO, Niti Aayog,
has suggested to Reve-
nue Secy Ajay Bhushan
Pandey to propose fur-
ther changes in cus-
toms, including improv-
ing information flow
and making customs
processes and IT sys-
tems more efficient.
Kant said that time
has come to set up NTN
on lines of GSTN inte-
grating all departmen-
tal data flows into one
integrated system.
He added this will not
only facilitate exports
and imports by existing
firms but will also
bring in a large number
of MSMEs who have to
export through the ex-
port houses. —ANI
SetNat’lTradeNetwork,saysNiti
New Delhi: Demand
for Shramik Special
trains, which were in-
troduced to move mi-
grant workers to their
home states, has lately
been diminishing, Rail-
way Board chairman
Vinod Kumar Yadav
said. “It appears that
demand for these trains
is declining from the
originating state. 137
trains were flagged on-
Thursday & 172 on
Wednesday. Demand
for trains has been go-
ing down in the last two
days," Yadav said. This
is substantially less
than the number of
trains that were being
run last week. On an av-
erage, 250 trains were
started their journey
last week, as many as
279 trains on 20 May. On
24 May, states said that
they need 923 trains to
ferry passengers, on
Thursday, they said that
there is a need for 450
trains, Yadav said.
Special trains carry-
ing migrant workers
were flagged off from
various cities on 1 May
for the first time since
the lockdown was en-
forced on 25 March. —ANI
‘Demandforspecialtrainsfalling’
THE MEASURE
THE APPEAL
New Delhi: The wife
of former Union
Minister and senior
J&K Congress leader
Saifuddin Soz moved
the Supreme Court
on Friday seeking he
be produced before
the court as also the
quashing of the or-
der by which he has
been under house
arrest since August
5 last year. —ANI
WIFE OF J&K
CONG LEADER
SOZ MOVES SC
New Delhi: The na-
tional capital on Fri-
day was jolted by trem-
ors of an earthquake
with an epicentre in
Rohtak, Haryana. “An
earthquake with a
magnitude of 4.6 on the
Richter Scale hit 16 km
ESE of Rohtak in Hary-
ana at 21:08 hours to-
day,” said the National
Center for Seismology
(NCS). Tremors were
felt across Delhi and in
the nearby regions of
Noida as well. —ANI
4.6-magnitude
earth quake
jolts Rohtak

9. You can change the world! Start
with yourself. Then find one
person like you and then
another- soon you will have a team with
whom you can change the world!
—Jagdeesh Chandra, CEO & Editor, First India
AHMEDABAD | SATURDAY, MAY 30, 2020www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
08
2NDFRONT
First India Bureau
Junagadh: Two farm-
ers in neighbouring Ju-
nagadh and Gir-Som-
nath districts have cul-
tivated a ‘Tommy At-
kins’ variety of mango
which, among other
qualities, does not push
the blood sugar of
those consuming it.
This variety, also
called as Black Man-
go is dark violet in
colour and its pulp is
red in colour, it has
very low sugar and is
more acidic in taste
and thus renders it a
perfect element ideal
for those with diabe-
tes.
Some experts also
say this is equivalent to
Vanraj variety of man-
go, which is available
in India, but also claim
that this is not condu-
cive to be cultivated in
India.
“It is all the craze
for the people in the
US. They prefer more
of Black Mangoes be-
cause of their diet
regime. This mango
has more fibre and is
considered perfect
for health-conscious
people. But the eat-
ing habits in India
are a lot different.
Here, mostly Kesar
and Alphonso are
preferred since Indi-
ans like more sugary
fruits, but this varie-
ty can still be con-
sumed by Indians as
well, especially those
who are diabetic,”
said Dr DK Varu, pro-
fessor and head of
Department of Horti-
culture at Junagadh
Agricultural Univer-
sity.
Since five years, two
Junagadh-based farm-
ers had been working
on developing this vari-
ety after they bought
saplings from someone
in Bangalore who had
sourced it from Florida
in the US.
“We just wanted to
see if this is feasible
to cultivate it here.
We will test the mar-
kets for this. We have
hundreds of variety
of mangoes and no
one was cultivating
this type of mango.
So, we decided to do
it,” said Gafoor
Qureshi, who devel-
oped this variety and
owns a mango nurs-
ery in Saurashtra.
Now, ‘Tommy Atkins’ sugar-free mango
First India Bure au
Ahmedabad: In yet an-
other slap on the face of
a defensive State Gov-
ernment, the Gujarat
High Court has ordered
that private hospitals
and laboratories would
not need any govern-
ment permission to
conduct Covid tests.
The court, simultane-
ously, referred to the
testing charges and told
the private labs that,
“God is observing eve-
rything.”
In one more interim
order in a suo motu case
and a bunch of PILs on
the corona crisis, Chief
Justice Vikram Nath
and Justice J B Pardi-
wala expressed their
disappointment that
the private hospitals
had sought to challenge
the State Government’s
decision to set fixed
rates for treatment of
Covid patients.
The high court
questioned the private
hospitals on, “What
sort of petitions have
you moved when the
world is facing a seri-
ous pandemic?” The
court directed the gov-
ernment to explain
and convince private
hospitals to abide by
the state decision.
The Court warned
that it would prosecute
private hospitals found
to be charging exorbi-
tant fees. “This is not
the time for profiteer-
ing,” Justice J B Pardi-
wala orally observed,
stating, “God is observ-
ing everything.”
In turn, the private
hospitals assured the
court that they will
charge 10 per cent
less than the rate
fixed by the State
Government and five
per cent less for ICU.
The court issued no-
tices to the Indian
Council of Medical Re-
search (ICMR) when the
State Government sub-
mitted that it was fol-
lowing the ICMR’s
guidelines in sample
testing by private labs.
This was in response to
the Ahmedabad Medi-
cal Association’s repre-
sentation that the State
was restricting Covid
tests by private labora-
tories. Here, the court,
significantly, directed
that private labs don’t
need to take permis-
sion and only inform
the government about
tests they conduct.
HCpullsupGuj,pvthospitalsinonegoDivision bench headed by Chief Justice Vikram Nath tells govt to allow pvt hospitals do Covid tests sans approvals
1,500 Surat
returnees de-
board train
HC orders
10% cut in
pvt Covid
charges
Berhampur/Surat:
Nearly 1,500 Surat re-
turnees de-boarded at
Chatrapur railway sta-
tion in Ganjam district
after pulling the alarm
chain of a train on Fri-
day. The train carrying
migrant workers was
heading towards Balas-
ore and it halted near
Chatrapur station after
the alarm chain was
pulled around 6 p.m.
Ganjam district admin-
istration officials
reached the spot and ini-
tiated efforts to send the
passengers to their na-
tive places in the district
by buses.
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: The Gu-
jarat High Court has
ordered 5 per cent cut
in Intensive Care
Unit (ICU) charges
and 10 per cent cut in
general ward charges
of Covid 19 treatment
in private hospitals.
When a lawyer repre-
senting the State Gov-
ernment told the high
court that testing for
Covid 19 takes place in
the State according to
the guidelines of Indi-
an Council of Medical
Research (ICMR).
During hearing on
a suo moto by the
high court and a
bunch of Public In-
terest Litigations, a
bench of Chief Jus-
tice Vikram Nath and
Justice JB Pardiwala
ordered the ICMR to
join as a party in this
case. Regarding the
migrant labourers is-
sue, the High Court
has not given any di-
rection to the State
Government as the
matter is pending
with the Supreme
Court.
First India Bureau
Vadodara: Retail infla-
tion for industrial work-
ers eased to 5.45 per
cent in April 2020 from
8.33 per cent in the same
month a year ago, main-
ly due to lower prices of
certain food items and
petrol, official data
showed.
“Year-on-year infla-
tion based on all items
stood at 5.45 per cent
for April 2020 as com-
pared to 5.50 per cent
for the previous
month and 8.33 per
cent during the corre-
sponding month of
the previous year,” a
Labour Ministry
statement said.
Food inflation stood
at 6.56 per cent in April
2020 against 6.67 per
cent of the previous
month (March 2020) and
4.92 per cent during the
corresponding month
(April 2019) a year ago,
it said.
Lauding the efforts
of the Labour Bureau
which collects and re-
leased Consumer Price
Index-Industrial Work-
ers (CPI-IW), Labour
Minister Santosh Gang-
war said the ‘’cost of
living index’’ data col-
lection and release by
the bureau in these dif-
ficult times during the
lockdown is commend-
able and would go a long
way to help in policy
making in the country.
The CPI-IW is used
to hike in dearness al-
lowance and dearness
relief for over 1 crore
central government
employees and pen-
sioners.
Retail inflation for industrial workers eases
to 5.45 pc in April from 8.33 pc in 2019
—FILE PHOTO
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: In a
relief to private
doctors and people,
the Gujarat High
Court on Friday
said that there was
no need to take ap-
proval of the gov-
ernment for carry-
ing out coronavi-
rus tests if doctors
recommended it.
The Ahmedabad
Medical Association
(AMA) had ap-
proached the high
court against a Guja-
rat government or-
der, which prohibits
private doctors and
hospitals from con-
ducting COVID-19
tests without getting
approval from desig-
nated health offi-
cials.
In its plea, the
AMA argued against
this directive saying
that doctors’ opinion
should be treated as
final because any de-
lay would adversely
affect the health of
both the patient and
the doctor.
The division
bench comprising
Chief Justice
Vikram Nath and
Justice J B Pardi-
wala clubbed the
plea with a suo
motu PIL it has
been hearing since
March about vari-
ous aspects related
to coronavirus
pandemic. The
judges have been
hearing the PIL
and related mat-
ters from their res-
idences through
video-conferenc-
ing.
The AMA claims
that it usually takes
two to three days for
the approval to come.
While hearing
the plea, the bench
asked the govern-
ment why people
were barred from
getting tested
when the ICMR
had already recog-
nised 12 laborato-
ries to conduct
COVID-19 tests in
the state.
First India Bureau
Gandhinagar: The Gu-
jarat Urja Vikas Nigam
Limited (GUVNL) has
once again extended the
deadline for submission
of bids calling for the de-
velopment of 700 MW of
solarprojectsattheDhol-
era Solar Park.
The reason for the
extensionisthenation-
al lockdown an-
nounced to arrest the
spread of COVID-19
pandemic. Thedeadline
for the submission of
bidshasbeenextendedto
July 31, 2020, which was
earlier May 30, 2020, and
had been extended from
April 30, 2020. The tech-
nical bid opening date
has now been extended
to August 04, 2020,
from June 01, 2020,
and the financial bid
opening will take place
on August 13, 2020. Out
of the total 1,000 MW ca-
pacity (20×50) at Dholera
SolarPark,300MW(6×50
MW) has already been
auctioned.
‘No need for govt
approval for
Covid tests’
Another chance to bid
for Dholera Solar Park
MSMEs seek waiver of fixed power charges
First India Bureau
Ahmedabad: The Gu-
jarat High Court on
Friday issued notice
returnable within a
week on a petition
filed by Gujarat Re-
Rolling Mills Associa-
tion seeking waiver of
fixed minimum de-
mand electricity
chargesforthemonths
of May and June.
A petition by Ad-
vocate Arpit R. Sin-
ghvi states that the
distribution compa-
nies are demanding
fixed demand elec-
tricity charges for
the month of May
2020, despite the
lockdown being in
force and no busi-
ness activities hap-
pening.
The petitioner, an
association of micro,
small and medium en-
terprises in Gujarat,
submitted that all
business activities
had come to a halt on
March 25 with the na-
tionwide lockdown
and though such re-
strictions were re-
laxed from May 18, the
business activities
could not resume due
to prevalent migrant
labour crisis and la-
bour shortage.
It submitted that
the industries in the
petitioner association
are MSMEs and none
of them has been able
to resume proper busi-
ness operations even
after the relaxation.
BLACK MANGO!
FINANCIAL AID FOR NEEDY
Chief Justice Raghvendra Singh Chauhan of the Telangana High Court inaugurated an
initiative, under which financial assistance would be released online to eligible needy
advocates and lawyers’ clerks, on Thursday. The Telangana State Advocates’ Welfare
Trust, with Advocate General BS Prasad as its chairman, resolved to grant Rs 10,000 to
every needy advocate and Rs 5,000 to every clerk for their day-to-day expenses during
the lockdown. The Trust has called for applications from the qualified clerks. All clerks
who have registered and are on the rolls of the Registered Clerks’ Association and have a
Certificate of Registration for the years 2019/2020 were eligible for the application.
Special mangoes for diabetics.
Dholera Solar Park is waiting
for bidders.

10. City First brings you some natural tricks
to keep you cool and beat the heat during
the hot summer days
ummer is in full swing
and the only way to
deal with it is to go
natural! This is the
season where you can
enjoy experimenting
with your clothes, try
new summer hairstyles, go
friendly with comfy footwear,
don fun accessories and pre-
pare a summer-perfect look
while maintaining your cool
and calm pace even during a
sunny day. City First brings
you a few ways for you to beat
the scorching heat.
First of all, say no to any-
thing in synthetic fibre and
invest only in pure cotton fab-
rics this season, which allows
air to circulate and move free-
ly through the fabric, making
the heat bearable. Cotton in
summer is like a built-in air-
conditioner for your body. Si-
multaneously, go for lighter
colours, as dark colours tend
to absorb heat.
Stick to loose-fitting clothes,
so that there is room for your
skin to breathe. Pile up on
pretty maxi dresses, shirts,
crop top, off-shoulders, shorts
and flared skirts that ensures
airflow and absorbs moisture.
While picking up your sun-
dressof theday,youcanchoose
a romper or a jumpsuit for any
casual occasion. These styles
are a flawless choice for wom-
en to carry in hot weather, as
no buttons or zippers would
rub against your sweaty skin.
Wherein, a short babydoll
dress with either spaghetti
straps or short sleeves makes
an exemplary choice for girls.
Along with a comfortable
attire, happy feet will always
compliment you in keeping
your calm. So, don’t suffocate
your feet inside your footwear
and let them sway freely in
sandals, flats, wedges, and
sneakers (preferably white)
during this season.
Summer heat also results in
excessive drying of your hair,
making it frizzier. But you can
control it by tying up your
hair. It is the right time to get
a trendy sun-friendly haircut,
and you can keep them open
by just donning a summer
hat or scarf. You can
also try different
hairstyles in buns,
twists and pony-
tails, and acces-
sorize your tress-
eswithscrunch-
ies, bandana or
scarfs to plot an
ideal summer look.
After fixing your ap-
pearance, give your-
self a natural
brush touch. As
summer and
makeup melt-
downs go hand-
in-hand, limit
yourself to light-
weight, natural-
looking, and most of
all, glowy look. Where-
in, sunscreen is the only
thing you should be layer-
ing on thick.
Avoid burning your deli-
cate pupils in this swelter-
ing heat and spruce up your
diva avatar with a classy pair
of sunglasses. To give an ex-
tra pop, adorn only non-
metallic ornaments as
metal can affect your
skin if get warm in
heat. And, lastly, it
goes without saying,
‘keep yourself hy-
drated’ to stay
hot and sexy!
HEAT
KIRTI CHAUHAN
kirti.chauhan@firstindia.co.in
S
AHMEDABAD, SATURDAY
MAY 30, 2020
www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia
facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia 09
BEAT THE

11. 10
ETCAHMEDABAD | SATURDAY, MAY 30, 2020www.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia
FACEOFTHEDAY
RUCHI SATWANI, Fashion Designer
YOUR
DAYHoroscope by
Saurabbh Sachdeva
LEO
JULY 24 - AUGUST 23
You must learn how to deal
with your own problems as
any blind faith on someone
could possibly leave you
disappointed. You will be on cloud 9
today after hearing the good news in
the family. Any property related deal
or decision will turn out in your
favour.
LIBRA
SEPT 24 - OCTOBER 22
You may find yourself in
dilemma today, whether to
save on money or to ask
someone to leave in office.
Be patient when it comes to your
desires, don’t worry all of the
relevant ones will get fulfilled. On
academic front, you may feel heroic
because of something or the other.
ARIES
MAR 21 - APR 20
Today you must for sure
take a chill pill. You have a
habit of reacting to people
therefore make all efforts
today to not bother about other’s
opinion to avoid any conflicts. On
work front, you will do justice to all
the work given to you today. You will
get all the money that you need.
SAGITTARIUS
NOV 23 - DEC 22
You must do all the
preparations in advance to
avoid any last minute rush.
Remember its not easy to
win someone’s trust therefore be
patient and remain honest. Its may get
a bit difficult in office today due to your
rigid stubborn nature, try to ease out a
little.
GEMINI
MAY 21 - JUNE 21
Your perspective towards
life will change and that in
turn will make you mare
peaceful and tolerant of
others. You may look for short terms
gains today but remember you need
to live happily even tomorrow
therefore act accordingly. Your love
life may not be on the priority today.
AQUARIUS
JAN 21 - FEB 19
Be patient and don’t loose
hope, today you may not
receive the payment you
have been expecting. On
professional front, things will go as
you wish. Those looking for job must
sit for campus placement sessions
as you will most likely get a job.
Today things may be tough.
TAURUS
APR 21 - MAY 20
You have the ability to plan
things systematically and
turn any situation or the
person in your favour. You
will spend a superb day at home as
well in office. People will enjoy your
pleasant company. You will get all the
support that you need on academic
front.
CAPRICORN
DEC 23 - JAN 20
You will successfully
change the dull atmos-
phere in office today and
people will appreciate you
for it. On academic front, you shall
enjoy the fruit of the seeds you
bowed in the past. You will spend a
lot of time self-introspecting and
thinking about your future today.
VIRGO
AUG 24 - SEP 23
Today you need to plan the
things well in order to do
justice to everything. In
office, you must refrain
from sharing your interests with your
colleagues as they may misjudge.
You must not waste so much time in
taking the decisions or else things
will slip out of your hands.
CANCER
JUNE 22 - JULY 23
It is not an easy thing to
bond with a youngster and
if you have that bond with
one, just don’t spoil it
because of misunderstandings.
Listen to what they have to say. No
matter how you are feeling today,
you must not detach yourself from
office work.
PISCES
FEB20 - MARCH 20
Your actions speak for you
therefore don’t indulge in
verbal fights to prove your
potential. No matter how
hard you try certain things are not in
hand, therefore don’t get disappointed
if things don’t go in office as you
expected. Your spoilt mood may ruin
the peace at home.
SCORPIO
OCT 23 - NOVEMBER 22
Today you may get forced
to lend some money to
someone in need. Some of
you may feel disappointed
today on academic front but that’s
temporary. In office you must make
best efforts to hide your shortcom-
ings or else people will make fun and
place judgements.
f ever there can be
a perfect Two-word
extract from our
ancient scriptures,
it is ‘SATYAMEVA
JAYATE’ TRUTH
ALONE TRI-
UMPHS! No other civiliza-
tionisolderormoreevolved
than ours, and that’s the
reason no other country
has such a sacred inscrip-
tion on every currency note
and coin. Our elders, in
their wisdom, arranged to
inscribe this National Mot-
to on our sacred currency
for a very good reason.
A currency is meant to be
a token of exchange repre-
sentingthevalueof eachciti-
zen’s talent and skill. When
‘X’ earns money by his/her
talent, he/she in turn, uses
that token to buy the prod-
uct/service created by ‘Y’s
talent. That inscription was
there on every token to serve
as a constant reminder of
this sanctity. PERIOD.
But, very sadly, this Mot-
to was cynically watered
down by ‘alternate facts’,
‘post-truths’, ‘Fact-Lite’ and
other such assholery.
TRUTH and its trusted am-
bassador, SCIENCE, began
to lose credibility. Having
succeeded in diverting at-
tention from this sacred
message, Money started to
be used for Bribery. This ne-
farious activity not only
soiled the notes in secret
stashes but soiled the very
soul of our Nation. A major-
ity were up for sale, with
negotiable ‘breaking points!
It would be a great perver-
sion of TRUTH to pretend
that this practice has not
seeped into the Nation’s
bloodstream. Though naive
andgullible,Publicdidnotice
the leaders of various fields
trade in each other’s souls!
Public noticed because it
had a stake in the sweat of
their labour, it had a stake
in the System. It had cast its
sacrosanct Vote hoping to
purify the system. Noticing
the Elite disregard the mes-
sage of our National Motto,
most citizens started to ape
that behaviour. On the other
hand, when it was noticed
that this ‘culture of bribery’
had silenced a great part of
the public conscience, they
conspired to take away the
public’s most cherished
right: Freedom of Speech.
How? Anybody’s guess!
And as if by Divine Symbol-
ism, a Mask is now manda-
tory! Isn’t it a strange Para-
dox that when nobody
seems to respect this extract
from our scriptures, we pre-
tend to fight for that every
civilization that created
Satyameva Jayate through
the meditation of Sages/
Rishis over centuries, our
Vedic scriptures have all the
Wisdom of the Universe,
but admirably, they were
‘impersonal & authorless’!
Even when most were
deeply indulgent in this evil
of Bribery, an old Indian by-
wordhadkepteveryonefore-
warned: “when the Pot of
Sinsbecomesfull,itbreaks”,
to which we can now add,
“drowning all in its acid”!
That flood of disease &
economic meltdown has
Locked Down the Nation.
The situation will remain
intractable, unless. Unless
we embrace probity and
unity. Unless we LOCK-
DOWN ALL POLITICS tem-
porarily. Unless we read our
National Motto each time
we use that sacred token.
ITS THE ONLY SOLU-
TION FOLKS!
Nobody should be having
any objection to that, be-
cause our very existence is
under threat!
SATYAMEVA JAYATE:
A SOILED MOTTO!
RAINU SINGH
cityfirst@firstindia.co.in
I

12. K
riti Sanon on Friday shared a beauti-
ful monochrome picture of herself
with a caption that stood out and re-
veals more
about her inner person-
ality and how she is as
a person. The ‘Dilwale’
actor could be seen
slaying her new style in
the monochrome pic-
ture, but it’s her ran-
dom thought that is
grabbing more eye-
balls.
“I think I’m an old
soul... That believes in
the idea of true love
and loyalty, Loves old
songs, Looks for Real in
this world full of pre-
tence, Loves the idea
of holding hands, a
peck on the fore-
head, long unex-
pected messages,
black and white
pictures and of
course, Poetry.
#PoeticSoul
# R a n d o m -
T h o u g h t s
#BeMyPoet-
ry” the actor
wrote as the
caption. Sa-
non was
last seen
in Ashu-
t o s h
Gowari-
kar’s pe-
riod drama
‘Panipat’ opposite
actor Arjun Kapoor.
—ANI
ETCwww.firstindia.co.in I www.firstindia.co.in/epaper/ I twitter.com/thefirstindia I facebook.com/thefirstindia I instagram.com/thefirstindia AHMEDABAD | SATURDAY, MAY 30, 2020
11
INGREDIENTS
For outer covering:  Lauki ,peeled
and diced into cubes – 3 cups  On-
ion , diced into cubes -1 no  Garlic – 2
cloves  Dried thyme -1 tsp ( optional) 
Maida -2 tbsp  Bay leaf – 1 no  Oil – 2
tbsp  Salt to taste
For stuffing:  Paneer, grated – 4 tbsp
 Processed Cheese grated – 4 tbsp 
Chopped pudina – 1 tbsp  Chopped
hari mirch – 1 tsp  Pinch of garam
masala  Salt to taste
For frying:  Fresh Breadcrumbs- 1 cup
 Cornflour -2 tbsp  Water -4 tbsp 
Oil to deep fry
METHOD
 Mix all ingredients of stuffing and
form into small balls,of the size of
big marbles.
 Keep them in fridge, till we process
the outer covering.
 Spread lauki, onion and garlic on a
baking tray. Smear it with oil, salt ,
pepper and thyme. Add bay leaf.
 Roast in a preheated oven for 20 -25
mins, at 200 degree centigrade.
 Check Lauki cubes for tenderness.
Then cool the mixture and discard
bay leaf.
 Blend the lauki mixture in a blender
to a coarse paste. Do not add water
while blending.
 Heat 2 tbsp oil in a non stick pan and
add maida. Sauté maida for a minute
and then add lauki paste. Keep stir-
ring till the paste binds.The paste will
start leaving the sides of the pan and
will form into a ball.
 Cool the mixture. Now, portion
into small balls. Flatten the ball
into your palm and then place the
cheese stuffing ball in the cen-
tre. Work the lauki layer over the
cheese and form into a ball.
FOR FRYING
 Make slurry of cornflour by dissolv-
ing it in water
 Dip lauki balls in it and then roll in
breadcrumbs.
 Heat oil in a Karahi and deep fry, till
golden brown.
 Serve hot with dhania pudina chut-
ney.
NOTES
 Roasting lauki is an important step as
it lends distinct caramelised flavour.
So do not skip this step.
 Fry one croquette first and check if it
oozes or disintegrates. If so then roll
once more in cornflour slurry and
breadcrumbs.
 If you want to avoid deep frying, then
shape it like a patty and pan fry.
C
ome summers
and we are bom-
barded by Lau-
ki, Tinda, Turai
….. and the family
members scoffing at
the idea of it. The
housewife is loosing
her mind over this at-
titude , who is already
burdened with non end-
ing demands of house-
hold chores during
lockdown.
I have taken upon
myself to get innova-
tive with these humble
and nutritious vegeta-
bles . After number of
failed experiments, I
came up with ‘Lauki
Croquettes’.
LAUKI CROQUETTES
My inspiration for this
dish came from , Italian
Pumpkin Croquettes. I
replaced pumpkin with
Lauki and also tweaked
the recipe to suit Indian
palette. Your family
will love this variation.
LOCKDOWN
Cooking Cravings
ABOUT ISHA SWARUP
Isha’s Kitchen by
Isha Swarup is where
creativity in cooking,
innovation in recipes and
passion for food flows.
Isha loves to design
food in most artistic
fashion, fusing cuisines
in a manner which suits
Indian palette.
Isha Swarup
N
ushratBharuchawillplaythe
lead in the Hindi remake of
the hit Marathi horror film,
Lapachhapi. Titled Chhori,
the film is co-produced by Abundan-
tia Entertainment and Crypt TV. The
remake is being written by Vishal
Kapoor and directed by Vishal Furia,
the original creators of Lapachhapi
(2016). “I am extremely excited to be a
part of Chhori,” Nushrat wrote on
social media while sharing the infor-
mation. “This genre excites me and
the fact that the story is anchored in
practices of our society, makes it re-
latable and impactful,” she added.
A horror-thriller, ‘Lapachhapi’ fol-
lows a pregnant woman and her hus-
bandwhomoveintoahauntedhouse.
The film blends genre scares with
social commentary on age-old prac-
tices and beliefs. “Getting a chance to
revisit the film has been amazing,”
says director Vishal Furia. “I want to
take the remake a few steps further
and make a much more impactful,
scary and thrilling film.” —Agency
with a caption that stood out and re-
he current times are such that
a vacation seems a distant re-
ality, but we love Reese With-
erspoon’s optimistic attitude.
Looks like ‘The Morning Show’
actress is already planning her
next holiday and India seems
to be on her list of countries that she
may be considering to visit once sit-
uation gets back to normal. Recently,
Reese Witherspoon shared a glimpse
of her quarantine activity with
youngest son Tennessee James and
it indeed looked like a fun time as the
mother-son duo were busy solving a
word puzzle. In the caption, Reese
wrote, “Dreaming of the places we
will go! Where do you dream of
traveling to?.” On closer look, one
can see that Reese and her son are
engrossed in reading an activity
book on India. In the picture, Ten-
nessee can be seen solving a word
puzzle whereas Reese points to a
page with ‘India’ written on it. There
is also a brochure of India that sits
on the side and a fake passport
meant for play is on the table. —IANS
Planning the
VACATION!
T
OLD SOUL
W
e often neglect our mental
healthwhileitsthemostim-
portant thing ever. A peace-
ful mind is the key to suc-
cess and happiness and in the rat race,
people tend to overlook the same. Re-
cently, Camila Cabello opened up about
her struggle with anxiety and ex-
plained how it manifested into OCD
over time. The 23-year-old singer who
gave the biggest chartbuster of 2019
with the song ‘Senorita’ penned down
an essay wherein she revealed about
her mental health. Camila Cabello ex-
plains how fans have seen her glamour
and says, “If you look at the pictures
I’ve posted on Instagram over the last
year, you’ll find pictures of me writing
in the studio, pictures in a hallway in a
bomb-dot-com outfit before going on-
stage to perform, pictures of me cud-
dled up with my dog, Eugene, on a
couch, and pictures of me bursting
withexcitementtoplayyoumymusic.”
She further adds what fans haven’t
seen about here because that’s not been
put on social media. —IANS
Back-stage
Struggles!
Reese Witherspoon
... her post
Lauki Croquettes
Kriti Sanon
(inset) Her post
Poster of the film
Camila Cabello
All set to
SCARE!
Nushrat Bharucha